Is Suicide Always the Result of Mental Illness?

[Sam7sf]

Mad as in crazy? Sure. Always been crazy.

Mad as in angry? No anger here. Just a little sadness that someone can show so little understanding and compassion towards others.

Internet slang/joke. That's code for I got no comeback. Lol.

 

[Wildcat Diva]

Those kinds of thoughts to keep fighting are coping thoughts. Not everybody knows about those or if they do, will accept them as valid.

Saying “love yourself” like it is an easy thing can seem to be a slap in the face to someone who cannot fathom the possibility of not hating themselves.

 

[oldag]

I would add, I honestly do not know if someone who chooses to end their life on their own timing when succumbing to a long illness with death as the only outlook (loss of mind, loss of body function, etc.) is committing a sin. Perhaps so. But if this is the case, God does forgive sins.

I will not criticize those who choose to endure these illnesses. But I also cannot find it within me to criticize those who choose not to be a burden on others.

 

[oldag]

Internet slang/joke. That's code for I got no comeback. Lol.

Guess you can tell I'm not hip...

 

[oldag]

I've experienced a mother in law that got advanced Alzheimer's in her 60's. She was never in a frame of mind to kill herself and none of the family wanted her dead. She would forget to pay bills. Then forgot how to cook. Then how to bathe. Then forgot how to breathe.

She was cared for until the very end. Suicide never was an option. Difficult? Yes. Deserving of death? No. Loved? Most definitely.

Understand. And as posted above, I am certainly not saying she should have ended her life.

 

[grasshopperglock]

Sweetest person I've ever known. She could walk up to wild cattle and pet them on the nose. She could also walk up to chickens and pick them up. Petting it like a cat. Her time on this planet was way too short.

 

[diesel1959]

I spent a dark few months after a teenage client killed himself within a year of me treating him (dropped out of therapy at the time school started and had killed himself by April 1).

I was way too introspective for my own good. I should have set better boundaries, but I did learn a few things and got to a sort of peace with it eventually. It took longer than it should have.

The “why” is a part of the grief process, the “bargaining” stage. I AGREE with you that getting stuck there, dwelling, IS bad business.

When the unthinkable (suicide) becomes thinkable, noble, or reasonable, THEN and ONLY THEN does it become possible as one of the options open to you. I choose not to dwell upon the darkness that makes the unthinkable thinkable.

And those that know me KNOW I’ve been down some pretty rough road for the last six and a half years . . .

 

[Sam7sf]

Guess you can tell I'm not hip...

All good. You have a right to say my views on celebs are ignorant. As for everything else I said absolutely not. I may be callous but despite why I am I do what I can to give others support I didn't get. People need confidence. If they aren't mentally ill and again I have said many times I'm not educated in this topic, but whatever defines them as not mentally ill, I don't see why people can't be encouraged to boost their ego up. My life experience says when your down, the world doesn't stop to ask if you're ok. It keeps kicking you while you're down. For a sane person...depression is bullshit.

 

[oldag]

All good. You have a right to say my views on celebs are ignorant. As for everything else I said absolutely not. I may be callous but despite why I am I do what I can to give others support I didn't get. People need confidence. If they aren't mentally ill and again I have said many times I'm not educated in this topic, but whatever defines them as not mentally ill, I don't see why people can't be encouraged to boost their ego up. My life experience says when your down, the world doesn't stop to ask if you're ok. It keeps kicking you while you're down. For a sane person...depression is bullshit.

People do need encouragement and a sympathetic ear. I wonder if some of these school shooters (don't know, just wondering) might have changed course with some more encouragement and friendship along the way.

 

[seeker_two]

Trying to put one cause onto suicide is like trying to put one cause onto violence.....you can't because there isn't one cause. Every situation is different. Every person is different. Every person's individual perception is different.

Not going to find a solution here or anywhere else......

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

 

[AustinN4]

Guess you can tell I'm not hip...

Hip? I thought you had a hip replacement, no?

 

[Sam7sf]

People do need encouragement and a sympathetic ear. I wonder if some of these school shooters (don't know, just wondering) might have changed course with some more encouragement and friendship along the way.

I'm of the opinion yes...anti depression drugs are used by shooters often. Imo that's another conspiracy.

 

[grasshopperglock]

I'm of the opinion yes...anti depression drugs are used by shooters often. Imo that's another conspiracy.

It's not a conspiracy. SSRI's have it right on the info sheet. Risk of suicide thoughts. If they labeled it... no operating heavy machinery, no driving and a risk of doing a mass shooting. The company would go tittie up. 'Risk of suicide' seems to cover the other side effects not otherwise disclosed.

 

[Sam7sf]

It's not a conspiracy. SSRI's have it right on the info sheet. Risk of suicide thoughts. If they labeled it... no operating heavy machinery, no driving and a risk of doing a mass shooting. The company would go tittie up. 'Risk of suicide' seems to cover the other side effects not otherwise disclosed.

Agreed. I view those drugs as mind altering government agenda.

 

[grasshopperglock]

Agreed. I view those drugs as mind altering government agenda.

I see it as drug companies gone wild. With the government letting them do it. The good old USA uses over 80% of the world's opiates. We also lead the world in consuming mind altering drugs.

The only two countries on earth that allow prescription drugs to be marketed straight to the consumer. Are the U.S. and New Zealand.

Nobody else does that $hit. Ask your doctor if it's right for you.

 

[Sam7sf]

I see it as drug companies gone wild. With the government letting them do it. The good old USA uses over 80% of the world's opiates. We also lead the world in consuming mind altering drugs.

The only two countries on earth that allow prescription drugs to be marketed straight to the consumer. Are the U.S. and New Zealand.

Nobody else does that $hit. Ask your doctor if it's right for you.

Imo they let them do it because it's part of the gun control plan.

 

[grasshopperglock]

Imo they let them do it because it's part of the gun control plan.

They don't want guns banned. If they did they'd shut down ammo production. In places like Detroit. Considering it population control isn't a far stretch. Actual gun control?, I don't believe that. They could if they wanted but haven't and won't. They may cuss AR-15's but it's nothing but a political ploy to stir up the masses. Maybe help Remington starve off the bankruptcy.

Because every time the government threatens gun ownership. Ownership go's up.

 

[benenglish]

Saying “love yourself” like it is an easy thing can seem to be a slap in the face to someone who cannot fathom the possibility of not hating themselves.

QFT.

I think most of us agree on the big picture - suicide is almost always a mistake. There would have been other avenues to take that would have had better outcomes.

But the OP asked if suicide is always the result of mental illness. To that question, I say a resounding no.

Look, right before my dad departed for his first assignment during WWII (for which he volunteered), everyone on that mission fell in for inspection on the dock. A full-bird colonel went down the line, shook the hand of each man, and thanked them for giving their lives for their country. It is my impression that my father was the only one who survived, though he was reticent to get into that level of detail.

He made a conscious decision to do something that, to the best of his knowledge, he knew would end his life. He wasn't mentally ill. He did something entirely selfless to preserve the lives, lifestyles, and freedom of others. I consider that a noble sacrifice.

In the normal world, such choices are rare. I cited Louis Awerbuck. Maybe he was premature in his decision but the principle still applies. I believe that mentally competent people can make a rational decision to end their lives.

Those are edge cases, though. Of the several suicides I've had direct experience with, none fit that mold. All of those were selfish acts. Now, I do not automatically condemn people for being selfish. "Rational self-interest builds better worlds" is something we accept as axiomatic. But selfishness that damages others may be rightfully condemned.

Thus, I conclude:

• Suicide =/= mental illness, but
• It's almost always a really bad idea.

 

[Wildcat Diva]

I’ve addressed the SSRI situation on another recent thread.

I don’t prescribe them. I see clients with SERIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS before meds and then AFTER meds.

I’ll take after meds are prescribed any day of the week when they are prescribed appropriately (95 percent of the time from what I see).

It’s no skin off my nose if they go without meds (saying I don’t benefit personally from meds being prescribed) but if you want to see mental health care take a nose dive ...just take them all away and see what happens then.

 

[oldag]

I see it as drug companies gone wild. With the government letting them do it. The good old USA uses over 80% of the world's opiates. We also lead the world in consuming mind altering drugs.

The only two countries on earth that allow prescription drugs to be marketed straight to the consumer. Are the U.S. and New Zealand.

Nobody else does that $hit. Ask your doctor if it's right for you.

Let's not forget the role of parents who don't want to exert the energy of parenting. So when they have a strong willed child they take them to the doc "I can't control him, do something!" And the doc goes along, labels the kid ADD or such. Next come the meds. That takes less effort on the parents' part.

Please note, I am not talking about meds for someone who is truly bipolar, etc. Rather kids who are given meds unnecessarily as a substitute for parental effort and discipline.